It would be easy to associate the end of Sir John Rose's career as chief
executive of Rolls-Royce with the Trent 900 engine failure in November.

In fact, that was a couple of uncomfortable months that required a robust and professional response, which the company delivered.

The end of his career, which has spanned 15 years in the hot seat and 27 in total at the company, was really about dealing with the three years of financial crisis between 2008-2010. His response to that much graver threat to the company began with the unpopular decision to withhold a £1bn cashback to shareholders in February 2008. Sir John saw early the need to conserve cash, and a company of Rolls-Royce's credibility taking such a prudent line so early on undoubtedly affected the subsequent thinking of other management teams facing similar choices.

But such prudence hasn't hurt the company. Over the three years of crisis Rolls-Royce's order book has risen 30pc, revenue is up 40pc and profits 20pc. Dividends have continued to rise while net cash stands at £1.5bn. Even these days when "leverage" and "balance sheet efficiency" are dirty words, such a cash pile might be considered excessive.

But that's an extremely nice problem for Sir John's successor, John Rishton, to have. Rishton has been handed a company more than capable of growing at a compound rate of 7pc – which will double the business in 10 years. The Rolls-Royce he inherits has a £60bn order book drawn from a wide variety of products and markets. It's surrounded by high barriers to entry and a reputation more than intact after the events of November.

Most notable, perhaps, is the fact that the Rolls-Royce Sir John leaves behind is a FTSE 100 company in its own right worth £12.3bn but containing three divisions – civil aerospace, defence aerospace and marine technology – which each make more than £300m in profit, each of which would be a FTSE 100 company in their own right if they were spun off.